Don't Answer Me
by anne674
Summary: Takes place after OotP. Idea from the Alan Parson's Project song "Don't Answer Me." A Defense Against the Dark Arts Project called Know Thy Enemy brings Harry and Draco together in their sixth year. As they get to know each other, the changes Draco has
1. Default Chapter

Prologue  
  
"Don't Answer Me" The Alan Parsons Project From The Platinum and Gold Collection  
  
If you believe in the power of magic I can change your mind But if you need to believe in someone Turn and look behind When we were living in a dream world Miles got in the way  
  
We gave it up in a moment of madness And threw it all away.  
  
Don't answer me Don't break the silence Don't let me win. Don't answer me Stay on your island and Don't let me in. Run away and hide from everyone Can you change the things We've said and done?  
  
If you believe in the power of magic It's all a fantasy. So if you need to believe in someone Just pretend it's me. It ain't enough that we meet as strangers I can't set you free So will you turn your back forever On what you mean to me?  
  
Don't answer me Don't break the silence Don't let me win. Don't answer me Stay on your island and Don't let me in. Run away and hide from everyone Can you change the things We've said and done?  
  
Chapter One  
  
The Hogwarts Express sped away from Platform Nine and Three Quarters at an alarming rate that Harry Potter still couldn't get used to, even though this was his sixth year at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. He watched out the windows of his compartment as they sailed through the English countryside, sad that the summer holiday was over, but equally as happy that he was finally going home. It had been a long summer, and it was a relief to be going back to Hogwarts, where some semblance of childhood remained, however small it might be.  
  
Ron and Hermione had dropped their things off in his compartment before heading to the prefects meeting two cars down, Ron grumbling something under his breath about seeing Malfoy after a perfectly good summer holiday. Hermione had told him not to start anything, then kissed Ron soundly on the mouth to get him to shut up. Harry laughed watching Ron blush, happy that his two best friends were finally a couple. 'Took them long enough,' he thought, smiling.  
  
That had been one of the few happy moments in his summer.  
  
After returning to London from Hogwarts in June, he had spent ten days at his aunt and uncle's house at Number Four Privet Drive, all Dumbledore had said he needed to fulfill the familial spell that protected him from Voldemort. His aunt had been unusually nice to him in those ten days, while his Uncle Vernon and cousin Dudley had, for the most part, left him alone. When Ron and Arthur Weasley and Hermione showed up by floo to take Harry back to the Burrow, Harry was stopped by his Aunt Petunia, who simply laid a thin hand on his shoulder and smiled weakly at him.  
  
"We'll see you next summer," she said to him, then watched as the four flooed out the fireplace.  
  
At the Burrow, he was greeted with a huge hug from Molly and Ginny Weasley, then shown to the room he would share with Ron for the remainder of their time at the Burrow. He discovered quickly that that wouldn't be much time; in fact, only about three weeks, then they would be heading to Number Twelve Grimmauld Place.  
  
Sirius's home.  
  
It was Dumbledore who had told him that Sirius's home was now his home. Harry was Sirius's only heir, and everything that had belonged to his godfather now belonged to him. Just as James and Lily had provided for their son, Sirius had also made sure that his godson was taken care of. When Harry saw what exactly had been left to him, he didn't know whether to laugh or cry. He might be one of the richest boys in the wizarding world now, but at what cost? He would rather have Sirius alive than his late godfather's money.  
  
And so, twenty-one days later, they made their way to Number Twelve Grimmauld Place.  
  
The upside of being in London was that they could visit Diagon Alley as much as they wanted. They made daily trips to the twins joke shop, Weasley's Wizard Wheezes, and were often unwilling test subjects for Fred and George's new products. Ginny, however, was the first one to really get back at them for their gall, sneaking a skiving snackbox into each of their pumpkin juices, and refusing to give them the antidote until they promised (through bloody noses and endless vomiting) not to 'surprise' any of them again with pranks. Fortunately for them, the promise stuck. Not that it would have mattered; Ginny, now a fifth year, had become as much a prankster as the twins over the summer, and had a few tricks up her sleeve.  
  
While they were in London they had a small memorial service for Sirius. Though there was no body to lay to rest, Harry could at least lay his own memories to rest. The night of the memorial service, Molly Weasley sat with Harry all night long as he sobbed openly at his loss. This was when he began to heal.  
  
The next day, Dumbledore told Harry that he would be continuing his occlumency lessons when they started their sixth year at school. Harry groaned, thinking he'd have to study with Snape again, but Dumbledore replied softly to his groan, "No, Harry, I'll be teaching you myself. It will be better for all involved."  
  
That had made Harry somewhat happier, and he would make sure that what had happened to Sirius wouldn't happen to anyone else.  
  
In the four weeks that they were in London, Ron and Hermione had finally given in to their feelings for each other. Harry remembered the argument that led to the yelling, and then the kissing.  
  
He was sitting in the room he and Ron shared, finally beating Ron at a game of chess, when Hermione stormed in, trembling with anger.  
  
"Ron Weasley!" she shrilled. "You have gone too far!"  
  
"What?" He had a shocked expression on his face.  
  
"This owl post I received from Viktor an hour ago said that you wrote him earlier and told him to leave me alone. What right do you have telling him to stay away from me?!"  
  
"I have every right! He's not good for you, Hermione, and I'm looking out for you!"  
  
"Oh bugger off, Ron! That's ridiculous. You're just jealous of Viktor."  
  
"Bugger off? BUGGER OFF? Get out of my room, you stupid git!"  
  
At this point Harry couldn't decide whether to stay there or risk being seen as he snuck out of the room.  
  
She gasped. "What? How - how dare -"  
  
Before she could finish spouting off though, Ron had grabbed her face between his hands and kissed her roughly. Hermione tensed, then melted into the kiss as it softened. Harry grinned, then waited and watched as they got in to the kiss. After a few minutes, he began cheering loudly, at which point Ron and Hermione separated, blushing furiously.  
  
" 'Bout effing time you two," Harry said. "Now come on, let's go get ice cream."  
  
During this time, Harry had also come to a big conclusion regarding his life. He had been thinking about his time with Cho last year, and why it went so wrong. He had liked her, he really had; but at the end of the year when he wasn't jealous of her and Michael Corner, he tried to sort through his feelings for her. It surprised him to find out that while he thought she was pretty, he wasn't really attracted to her like Ron and Hermione were attracted to each other. When he thought about that, he found that he was really attracted to males. No one at Hogwarts stood out in particular. He just found that given the choice between dating either Hermione or Ron ('Not that I want to,' he thought, 'that's like dating a family member!'), he would choose Ron. And it wasn't a matter of being attracted to red heads. He wasn't sure how his friends would take this bit of news, so he slept on it. For two weeks.  
  
Five days before they were to go back to Hogwarts, he sat Ron, Hermione, and Ginny down and told them.  
  
"I - I think I'm gay." He paused, studying the faces of his three closest friends. Their expressions varied, but he forged ahead. "Well, I'm pretty sure really, but I haven't really taken the practical test yet. Let's just say I'm more attracted to men than women, and leave it at that."  
  
Ginny had just cocked her red head and studied him for a minute. "OK. Is that all?"  
  
"Is that all?" Ron was flustered. "What do you mean, is that all?"  
  
Hermione knocked him in the stomach with her elbow. "Ron!"  
  
"No, it's OK, Hermione, it's shocking," Harry said quietly. "Ron, I love you mate, but you're my best friend. That's the only way I think of you."  
  
Ron visibly relaxed. "Not attracted to me at all?"  
  
"No."  
  
The red head released a tense breath. "Good. I'd hate for Hermione to get jealous."  
  
Harry laughed then as Hermione elbowed Ron again. "Would you stop it woman!" Ron shouted.  
  
Hermione rolled her eyes at Ron, kissed him on the cheek, then turned to Harry. "How about you, Harry? Are YOU OK with this? This is quite a life changing decision."  
  
"Yeah, but I'm OK. Really."  
  
Harry kept replaying that scene in his head as he watched the landscape fly by. 'I'm gay. I'm gay. I'm gay.' It sounded weird to him no matter how he said it, but he was glad it was out in the open. There had been nothing else said about it, which was fine with him.  
  
Ginny rushed into the compartment, red faced and laughing, and plopped down next to Harry. He put an arm around her and squeezed her gently.  
  
"Seamus found a book of curses in Flourish and Blotts and has been teaching us new stuff to use on the Slytherins in the halls," she laughed. "Wanna join us? I bet after just a couple of tries you could get Crabbe or Goyle dead on!"  
  
Harry laughed. "Better not. Would hate for Malfoy to slap me with a detention while we're still on the train, stupid git."  
  
"Suit yourself, but you'll be sorry!" She laughed once more, then got up hurriedly and left Harry alone in the compartment.  
  
***  
  
The Sorting was over, their stomachs were full, and most of the students in the great hall were bleary-eyed as Professor Dumbledore got their attention once more.  
  
"I have just a few more announcements before you go back to your dormitories. As always, the Forbidden Forest is forbidden to all students, and Mr. Filch has asked me to remind you that there should be no use of magic in the hallways between classes." Dumbledore's eyes sparkled. "And on what I hope to be a lighter note, all educational decrees posted and decisions made by the Hogwarts High Inquisitor last term are null."  
  
There was a moment of silence as this sank in, then a groan that came from the direction of the Slytherin table as they realized that their little hit squad had been disbanded.  
  
Hermione rolled her eyes. "What did they think? That Professor Dumbledore would allow them to continue to harass the other houses? And, Harry, that means you're back on the Quidditch team."  
  
It seemed that everyone understood the message all at once, for a huge roar went up in the Great Hall, the students' cheers making the stone walls ring. Most of the Gryffindors were jumping up and down as they realized they would have their Seeker back.  
  
***  
  
Harry, Ron, and Hermione met up in the common area after Ron and Hermione had fulfilled their prefect's duties for the evening. They sat in the overstuffed chairs for a while, just relaxing while mayhem broke out around them. Neville, Dean, and Seamus were playing a game of exploding snap, running around the room like madmen.  
  
Suddenly, Hermione yelled, "Oh good God, Neville, watch OUT!"  
  
Neville, who had grown six inches over the summer, had gotten long, gangly limbs, and was tripping over everything. Not that that was a new thing, but his new height only made it worse. Dean rushed over to help him up, and after he brushed himself off, they were back to their game.  
  
"What about Neville?" Ron gave Harry a sidelong glance.  
  
"What about Neville?" Harry returned the question to Ron.  
  
"You know. that."  
  
Hermione rolled her eyes. "Oh, Ron."  
  
Harry clued in, then punched Ron in the arm. "Please tell me you aren't serious."  
  
"Well, he's grown, he's not a pudge anymore. He might be what some blokes would call good looking."  
  
"Yeah, but not this bloke." Harry sighed. "Ron, please, PLEASE do not try to fix me up with anyone. I need to figure this one out for myself."  
  
"Alright, alright. I promise. No fixing Harry up with good looking guys."  
  
***  
  
Over in the Slytherin common area, Draco Malfoy sat in a highbacked chair with a book his mother had given him. It was a thick leatherbound journal with the Malfoy crest on it, and it was full of his mother's and father's notes on spells, people, and the Dark Lord, but it also had plenty of open space for him to make his own notes.  
  
He was pretending to be engrossed in the journal so that none of the other Slytherins would bother him, but he was really thinking about his summer. He'd been thinking about the events of the past two months, and couldn't believe how much had changed.  
  
After the events at the Ministry in June, his father had broken out of Azkaban just as Draco had predicted. What he hadn't predicted was that his father wouldn't return to Malfoy Manor; he had disappeared, and most people thought he was hiding out with Voldemort. His mother had maintained her cool demeanor, but had confided in Draco many times that she wasn't sure if or when Lucius would return. Draco missed his father, but part of him was glad that the Death Eater was gone.  
  
In many ways, Lucius's absence made Draco master of the manor, and he relished ordering their servants around, especially the house elves. Slowly though, unnoticeably at first even to Draco, something changed. He couldn't put his finger on it, but sometime at the beginning of August, it lost its fun. He became bored with his things and had started to become extremely introspective. Maybe it was the lack of vicious bile he was used to being fed daily by his father, or maybe it was that Narcissa paid more attention to him with Lucius absent.  
  
He was starting to say please and thank you to the servants, instead of just ordering them around like they were slaves. He no longer took pleasure in performing curses on the house elves, and quit doing it altogether. He had started to read more about things that at least weren't violent or evil, if not outright good.  
  
He didn't understand it, but he didn't fight it either.  
  
Then there was the other thing.  
  
Ten days before he was to go back to school, Narcissa sat him down to talk to him.  
  
"Draco, I know."  
  
"Know what?" He looked genuinely confused.  
  
His mother paused, checking her pale blond hair in the mirror as a brief distraction. "I know about you."  
  
"What about me, mother?"  
  
Not one to beat around the bush, Narcissa said it as delicately as possible. "I know that you. aren't attracted to women."  
  
Draco was silent for a moment. "How could you possibly know that?"  
  
Narcissa stared pointedly at her silver haired son. "I'm your mother. I'm observant." She continued to look at him.  
  
"What?"  
  
She sighed. "Do you have nothing to say? No denials? No confirmations?"  
  
He thought for a moment, then spoke carefully. "Would it matter either way?"  
  
"No, not really." She looked at her pale hands. "I wouldn't even bring this up, because it doesn't matter to me," she emphasized 'to me', "one way or another, but there have been other things that have come to my attention."  
  
"Such as?"  
  
"Draco, you aren't acting like yourself lately. I've noticed that you don't really give orders anymore as much as ask for things. And nicely at that."  
  
"Are you complaining that I'm being nicer to the servants, Mother?" He lifted an eyebrow at her .  
  
"No, not exactly. It's just so out of character. All the reading you're doing. And all the thinking you're doing as well." She put her hands around his. "I'm worried about you, Draco. Are you alright?"  
  
"Yes. I think so. Maybe I just think that there are better ways to exercise my power now than through fear."  
  
Narcissa's brow furrowed. "That may not have been the right thing to say. You're supposed to take the mark next year, and then you will be expected to exercise your power through fear."  
  
"I know." He was quiet before speaking again. "What if I decide not to take the mark?"  
  
Narcissa leaned over and kissed her son's cheek, then stood to leave. "A word of advice, Draco. Think long and hard before you make that particular decision."  
  
And he had been thinking about it, for the ten days since he and his mother had had that conversation. That, and the other thing. That thing about him, as his mother put it, not being attracted to women.  
  
He looked up in time to see one of the seventh years flinging a curse at a first year. He lifted his wand quickly and aimed at the spell line.  
  
"Finite incantatem! Accio wand!"  
  
The spell broke, and the seventh year student's wand was in his hand. He stared down the slightly larger seventh year, his grey eyes hidden through narrow slits.  
  
"What are you doing, Malfoy?" the other young man shouted.  
  
"No cursing first years until they have some idea how to defend themselves. Do it again, and I go to the professor."  
  
The other student knew Snape would not be as slow to rebuke as Draco had been, and turned on his heel and left the common area.  
  
'Damn. I'm going soft. Last year, I would have been the one cursing that first year,' he thought.  
  
At least one thing hadn't changed. He still hated Harry Potter.  
  
***  
  
They had just finished breakfast and were on their way down to the dungeon for potions with the Slytherins. Ron was grumbling and making wild hand gestures about the unfairness of it all, while trying to hold Hermione's hand at the same time. Hermione was rolling her eyes and trying to steady their locked hands.  
  
"Ron, do calm down! You're going to sprain my wrist if you keep this up."  
  
Harry laughed. "Yeah, but maybe it would get you out of potions, since you'd have to go see Madame Pomfrey about it."  
  
"Say, mate, that's a splendid idea!" Ron's face lit up. He let go of Hermione's hand and turned to her. "Quick break my wrist. You can even use my wand and say it was an accident!"  
  
Hermione rolled her eyes and kept walking towards the dungeon. Ron turned to Harry. "C'mon, Harry, please?!"  
  
"Not a chance, Ron. C'mon, we don't want to be late on the first day."  
  
They entered the potions room, Snape on their heels. He shut the dungeon door with a bang, and yelled at them to be quiet and have a seat. He wrote the assignment for the next class down on the blackboard, then turned to the students.  
  
"Today we will be working on an antidote to veritaserum. Who can tell me the properties involved in this draught?"  
  
No one raised a hand. Not even Hermione, who was staring neutrally at Snape. Harry poked her in the side with his finger.  
  
"You know the answer to this," he whispered.  
  
"Of course I do. But he never calls on me, so I'm not going to waste my energy. If he really wants the answer from someone who isn't Draco Malfoy, he'll call on one of us. If it's me, fine, I'll answer the question."  
  
Harry was shocked, but smiled all the same. "Wow. You are Hermione Granger, aren't you?" She smiled sweetly at him.  
  
Their whispering had not gone unnoticed by the potions master. "You have something to say, Miss Granger?"  
  
"No, professor."  
  
"Then I trust your little conversation with Mr. Potter was about classwork."  
  
"Yes, sir, we were discussing the properties of the veritaserum antidote." Hermione kept her voice sweet.  
  
"I wasn't aware that you knew the properties since you didn't raise your hand when asked the question, Miss Granger."  
  
"I thought maybe someone else would like to take a swing at it, sir."  
  
Snape narrowed his eyes at Hermione. "Five points from Gryffindor for your lip, Miss Granger. Now if we're ready to get started, everyone get your supplies and begin working."  
  
Harry walked over to the supply cabinet and got their ingredients, and got back to their table just in time to hear Seamus hiss at Hermione on his way back to his table.  
  
"Great job, Hermione. It's only the first day and we're already down points."  
  
"Sod off, Seamus," Ron said under his breath.  
  
***  
  
The morning went quickly and it was lunch time before the trio knew it. Ron looked at their schedules while stuffing his mouth with kidney pie. He swallowed, then spoke.  
  
"Great, Defense Against the Dark Arts right after lunch, WITH the gits from Slytherin again, of course. Say, I wonder who our new teacher will be?"  
  
"So long as it's not Delores Umbridge, I don't care who it is. Voldemort himself would be a better teacher than she was," Hermione stated matter of factly.  
  
Harry's jaw dropped, and Ron paled. "Hermione! You aren't serious!" he said.  
  
She kissed her boyfriend. "Well of course I don't want Voldemort to be our teacher, but you have to admit, he'd be a better teacher than she was."  
  
"She's got a point, Ron," Harry said.  
  
"Well, let's not dwell on that point."  
  
They ate the rest of their meal talking about nothing very serious, and Ron and Harry finished with two helpings of treacle tart a piece. Hermione quirked her brow at both of them.  
  
"What?" Ron asked.  
  
"You both must be growing again. You're eating like there's no tomorrow." She stood up. "Come on, we're going to be late for class."  
  
They followed her out of the Great Hall and a few minutes later the three entered the DADA room. They got settled and watched as the rest of the Slytherins and Gryffindors came in and sat down. Not long after, the question of who the next DADA professor would be was laid to rest as a tall woman not much older than the sixth years entered the room.  
  
She was beautiful, and looked very kind, but very tough. She had shoulder length light brown hair and dark brown eyes, and had almost an exotic look to her. Harry noticed all the young men in the room openly goggling at her, including Ron. Not Harry, of course. He looked around. Yeah, every one of the guys.  
  
Except for Draco Malfoy, who looked bored. 'Hmm. Interesting.'  
  
"Good afternoon class. I'm your new Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher. My name is Professor Lyddle. Let's get started.  
  
"It has come to my attention that with the rise of recent events, you have been admonished by the Sorting Hat to unite as a school instead of keeping the rivalries going. Therefore, I have a project for you which I hope will be most effective at accomplishing this task.  
  
"I am a trained Auror, and you will be learning part of what I know. As an auror, rule number one is this: Know Your Enemy. With that in mind, you are going to be grouped in to pairs with someone who is not your friend and you'll be learning more about that person.  
  
"This project is due on February fourteenth. Yes, I know that's a long time, but it takes a long time to get to know your enemy, and so I have assigned the time accordingly. The guidelines are on the board, please take them down while I announce your pairings."  
  
Ron leaned over to Harry and Hermione. "We don't even get to choose who our enemies are? What is this woman thinking?!"  
  
"Shh!" Hermione hissed. "Damn, I ended up with Parkinson! Of all the people."  
  
She was cut off by Ron's yelp of anger. "Goyle? Well she nailed it, she did, I'm going to have to kill him before this project is over!"  
  
Professor Lyddle finished up the pairings with the names that drew silence: "Harry Potter and Draco Malfoy."  
  
Draco turned to look at Harry over his shoulder, his lips pressed together in a thin line. Harry stared back, frowning. When Draco turned to look towards the front of the room again, Harry lowered his forehead to rest on his desk.  
  
"Bloody hell," he whispered.  
  
Professor Lyddle continued. "I know that this is unorthodox, but if we're to survive the coming troubles, we need to be able to work together. I expect nothing but the best behavior from each of you as you work on this project. If I hear otherwise, it will be the end of your time at Hogwarts. I hope I make myself clear."  
  
The rest of DADA passed uneventfully. Professor Lyddle went over the project, some of the different deadlines for it, and then began to teach them new defense spells and theories. Harry took notes, but he could barely concentrate for all the anger he was feeling.  
  
Draco must have been feeling the same thing. At the end of class, Harry sent Ron and Hermione ahead of him and approached Lyddle's desk. Malfoy did the same. The two young men stared at each other, not saying a word until Professor Lyddle recognized them.  
  
"Ah, Harry, Draco, I was expecting to see you at the end of class. What can I do for the two of you?"  
  
Draco cleared his throat gently. "Uh, professor, I understand that you had the best of intentions by putting Potter and myself together, but I really think that it's a tremendously bad idea. We hate each other, you see."  
  
Harry nodded violently. "He's right. We loathe each other."  
  
Professor Lyddle looked between the two of them, then nodded. "Then surely, you see exactly what I have to do." She stood, putting one hand on each boy's shoulder. "You loathe each other. You're the worst of enemies. The pairing stays. You will work with it. Understood?"  
  
"Yes, ma'am."  
  
"Yes, professor."  
  
They stalked out of the room. Harry had noticed earlier that Draco seemed to have gained some height over the holiday, and up close could tell that the small framed blonde, though still delicate in many ways, had filled out and was almost as tall as Harry was. Harry drew himself up to his full height and turned to face his nemesis.  
  
"I am only doing this because I have to, Malfoy. I will cooperate because my future here depends on it, and I expect the same of you. One thing, ONE THING out of line, and I will go straight to Lyddle."  
  
Draco looked evenly into Harry's eyes, which had turned dark green. "Fine. We start tomorrow night then. Meet me in the library after dinner, in the very back corner. I don't need all the other Slytherins seeing me hanging out with the pathetic Boy Who Shouldn't Have Lived." He stalked off, leaving Harry fuming and late for his next class. 


	2. Don't Answer Me Chapter 2

Chapter 2  
  
Harry was waiting in the stands of the Quidditch pitch for Malfoy, who was just finishing up Quidditch practice. They had agreed to meet here while the weather was still decent, as their night in the library three weeks ago had turned into a complete fiasco. Several of Malfoy's housemates had turned up in the library to do nothing but cause trouble, despite the fact that Draco had threatened to report them all for such actions.  
  
Finally, Harry had had enough. He slammed his fist down on the table and looked at each of the sixth year menaces in turn. "We don't want to be here any more than you want us to be, but we haven't been given the choice. Now sod off, " he said, reaching for his wand and pointing it at everyone, "before I decide to try some of the new curses Professor Lyddle has been teaching us."  
  
Deciding that Harry was serious, the other Slytherins had left them alone, skulking off to their own corners of the library. Malfoy was looking evenly at Harry, slight confusion written on his face.  
  
"What?" Harry had hissed.  
  
"Nothing. That was just very Slytherin like of you, Potter."  
  
So here he was, waiting for Malfoy in a place where they could get a little more work done. He didn't have to wait long. Draco flew up to where Harry was sitting and dismounted his broom. He had put his quill and parchment in the stands earlier, and picked them up to go over the notes he had made of their last session.  
  
"Let's get started, Potter, I haven't got all night. So last time, I learned that the Dark Lord killed your parents when you were one, and you spent the next ten years with your hideous aunt and uncle in Surrey. Then you came to Hogwarts and the rest truly is history." He sneered. "Poor abused little Potty."  
  
Harry gritted his teeth, but kept his temper in check. "And I learned that Draco Malfoy is the son of two Death Eaters, homicidal maniacs who serve the son of a bitch who murdered my mum and dad. You're an only child, a spoiled brat who has never wanted for anything, and you think that all Muggle born witches and wizards should be put to death. What a role model."  
  
Draco scowled, his gray eyes darkening with anger. "First of all, my mother may be a Death Eater, but to my knowledge she is only one because she has the mark. She is NOT a homicidal maniac. Second, despite what I may have said in the past, I do not think that all Muggle borns should be put to death. I may have thought that in the past," he paused, looking towards the darkening pitch, "but I no longer do. Everyone is allowed to change their attitudes."  
  
"Right, the son of a notorious killer changing his attitude about Muggles and Muggle borns. That's rich."  
  
"Well, it's good thing that it really doesn't matter what YOU think, Potter. I'm not the same person I was last year." He picked up his wand. "Lumos. Now, what do we need to find out about each other tonight?"  
  
Harry took a deep breath and allowed himself to be less angry about the situation. He just had to get through it, and then it would be over. "What was it like growing up in a powerful wizarding family?"  
  
Draco thought about it, running a slender hand through his hair, which, Harry noted, was longer than he'd seen Draco wear it before, falling to his chin in one length. It was long enough that it had to be tied back for quidditch practice. Harry slapped himself mentally for noticing this detail.  
  
"It was a good life. My mother loved me, my father said he loved me but I think he really just put up with me, waiting to see how I'd turn out. Since he raised me to believe in the work of the Dark Lord, I don't think I disappointed him too much, especially last year with the special forces squad under Umbridge." He smiled and looked Harry in the eye. "Lucius was pretty bloody happy when he found out I had gotten you into all that trouble. Anyway, as you said, I didn't want for anything, I still get just about everything I want, and I've learned that if my father says no, there's a reason for it.  
"This summer though, Father wasn't around to tell me what to think and how to feel about what was going on, and I found myself having to make decisions about things I'd never had to think about before. I also had time to think about some of the things he and my mother have taught me."  
  
"Like?"  
  
"Well, the whole Mudbl- er, Muggle born issue. Sorry. That's not coming easy. Anyway, why were Muggle borns 'filthy?' They're just wizards and witches born to Muggle parents. Course, I tried to rationalize my old way of thinking until I found a book that contained the Malfoy lineage. Turns out the Malfoy line isn't as pure as Father said it is. It seems that my great-great-great-great-grandfather on my Father's side was a Muggle. So with this small piece of information, I decided that my father was either stupid or a hypocrite. Of course, I decided that on this issue, he's both.  
  
"But that led me to think that maybe he was stupid or a hypocrite about other things as well. I had to think about that for a good long time, because it went against everything I'd ever been taught. Then there's the part where I remembered that the Dark Lord had a Muggle father himself. That part gets conveniently overlooked by most death eaters."  
  
"So, you turned in to thinking boy, eh?" Harry shook his head. "I didn't think you had it in you."  
  
"Oh? Well what about you, Potter? What was it like growing up in a Muggle family who knew what you were and hated that so much that they kept you in a closet all your life?"  
  
'I was in the closet in more ways than one,' Harry thought. "I guess other kids had it worse than I did."  
  
Malfoy lifted an eyebrow. "You're joking."  
  
"Well, the way I see it, I was raised in a home where I wasn't loved, but I knew that I had had parents who loved me more than anything. There are some kids here who were raised by other family members because their parents are lying in St. Mungo's." Neville.  
  
"How is that worse?"  
  
"They still see their parents, and know that even though they can still see them and touch them, they will never really have them. It's the ultimate confusion. I had closure. My parents are dead, and there isn't anything I can do to change it, no hope to get them back because a spell might come along and reverse the damage.  
  
'"But yeah, I lived in a closet until my Hogwarts letter came. I was beaten up by my cousin Dudley and his friends at least once a week. I had to wear his over large hand me downs because my aunt and uncle refused to buy me clothes. I was a freak, and I didn't understand why.  
  
"And I have to return to that every summer," he spat, "because they are my ultimate protectors from Voldemort."  
  
Draco wrote a couple of things down, as Harry had earlier, then paused to think about something. He started writing again, then looked up at Harry for a moment. There was something in his grey eyes that Harry had never seen before. Sympathy? Compassion? It didn't seem possible but there it was.  
  
"For what it's worth, and I know it may not be worth much to you, Potter, I'm sorry about your parents. I can't imagine what that would feel like."  
  
Harry just stared at him in amazement, then nodded, speechless.  
  
***  
  
**Can you change the things we've said and done?**  
  
***  
  
Hermione stomped out of the empty classroom with a look of murder on her face. She was lost in her anger as she made her way to Gryffindor Tower, thinking of all the ways she could use this information against Parkinson and the rest of the Slytherins. "Riddikulus!" she snarled at the portrait, and the door to the common room opened. She relaxed a little at just being home, but she still stomped over to the table where Ron and Harry were sitting working on their Divination homework.  
  
Ron noticed her bad mood immediately, possibly because she slammed her books on the table so hard that both he and Harry jumped. Harry was wide eyed as he looked at her, and Ron just goggled.  
  
"Uh, bad session with Parkinson, I take it?" the red headed boy asked.  
  
"Oh, no, not bad. Not JUST bad. She is a cow, an absolute COW, Ron!" By this time, most every eye in the common room had turned to look at the trio, but Hermione didn't care. She continued to raise her voice. "She had the GALL to tell me that when she took the Dark Mark, she would come see to it personally that I was destroyed, and that this little 'get to know your enemy' project wouldn't make a damn bit of difference. And that was before we even started working! Than she decided to put a curse not only on my chair, but my parchment and quill as well, so I had to take the time to issue the counter curse so I could work. It's bad enough that we have to do this without her acting like a first year, throwing stupid hexes around so I can't get any work done!" She slumped into her chair and threw and arm over her eyes.  
  
With the end of her diatribe, people turned away and went back to what they were doing, with the exception of some first years who looked like they would cry, they were so afraid of their prefect at the moment. Ron saw them gaping at Hermione, and he gave them a small smile, mouthing, 'It's alright,' to them. One of the small boys smiled back, whispered to his group, and they all turned back to what they were doing before.  
  
"Feel better now?" Harry asked quietly.  
  
"Yeah. Sorry."  
  
"Well, you scared some of the first years. I'll have to go smooth things over in a bit. I swear, Hermione, why can't you be a good prefect like me for once?" He grinned cheekily at her, and she threw her quill at him. He laughed. "Good, you are better. See, nothing that the good old Weasley charm can't handle!"  
  
At this, Harry threw his quill at his best friend.  
  
Hermione looked at what the other two were working on. "Wow. What does Firenze have you guys doing here? This looks like astronomy homework."  
  
"It might as well be. He thinks that we need the review because we're going to be starting on Centaur star charts soon." Harry said.  
  
"Yeah, it's a lot more work than what that Trewlaney bat had us doing, since it's more exact than her brand of fortunetelling, " Ron added, "but it's really a lot more fun. And we still get to sit in the grass." He smiled like a little kid, and Hermione laughed.  
  
"Well, so long as you're enjoying it, and I assume no predictions have been made so far about your horrible death this year?" She turned to Harry.  
  
"Not so far. Although it may be because Firenze is so practical, he told me that the wards and spells on the school had been strengthened. No one can get in or ourtof the place without every teacher in the school, and most of the ghosts, knowing about it. He told me I basically didn't have to worry about dying while I was here, unless of course I really pissed Draco off and he curses me."  
  
Ron wrinkled his forehead. "Draco?"  
  
Harry looked up from his parchment. "What?"  
  
Hermione lowered her head and whispered to him. "You called him Draco just now. You never do that."  
  
Harry hadn't noticed his slip, but he covered it as smoothly as possible. "That IS his name."  
  
"Yeah, but you always call him Malfoy, and usually with a growl. There wasn't even a growl that time. If you're gonna start calling him by his first name, at least growl when you do it!" Ron said.  
  
Harry laughed. "I'll try to remember that."  
  
"Seriously, Harry, that's awfully odd for you to do that," Hermione said.  
  
Harry rolled his eyes at the two of them. "I'll try not to do it again, alright."  
  
Ron and Hermione gave each other a funny look, the Ron spoke carefully. "You, uh, do still hate him, right?"  
  
So there it was. Harry looked at the table and didn't answer for a moment. When he did, it was very soft. "I'm not sure. I've found out some things about him that make it hard to hate him so much."  
  
"Please tell me you're joking!" Ron gaped at him.  
  
"Listen, I know it's odd, but he seems different this year. Haven't you two noticed that he doesn't seem as arrogant as usual? And that he's hanging out with Crabbe and Goyle a lot less? There are reasons for this, and I'm not sure to what to make of it all yet. I just find it hard to hate someone who hasn't given me much of a reason."  
  
Ron kept his voice low, but it was excited all the same. "Much of a reason? Have you forgotten."  
  
Harry held his hand up to stop him. "I haven't forgotten any of it, Ron. But here's the thing. We were asking each other about our childhoods for the project, and when he heard more about mine, he said he was sorry that Voldemort had killed my parents, and that he couldn't imagine what that would be like. So it's not as if he's as heartless and cruel as he was last year, or he wouldn't have done that."  
  
"I don't trust him." Ron grumbled.  
  
"Neither do I," Harry said simply, "but even I can see that there's something going on with him, and if nothing else I have to learn to work with him because if this project. There's no use making either of us more miserable than we already are. And until he gives me a reason to act otherwise, I've decided that I'm going to just relax and be nicer to him."  
  
Hermione smiled slightly. "And here I thought that I was the levelheaded one."  
  
Harry laughed. "Oh, you still are, I've just decided it might be nice for me to be a bit more levelheaded for a change."  
  
***  
  
Saturday morning came bright and clear. It was a nice crisp day, good for staying outside. Harry decided to raid the kitchens, which the house elves helped him with, and take a picnic lunch down to Hagrid's. He knew he'd be there long enough to get hungry, and thought that if he brought lunch, he wouldn't feel obliged to eat whatever concoction Hagrid had fixed that day.  
  
Other than one visit at the beginning of the term, and Care of Magical Creatures classes, Harry hadn't seen Hagrid. He felt bad for slighting his friend, but he knew that Hagrid would understand that Harry had been busy with school projects.  
  
He took a cloak in case it got any cooler, his bag filled with lunch, and made his way to Hagrid's hut. It felt good to get away from the school for a while, and Harry found himself taking his time getting there. By the time he knocked on Hegrid's door, he had a huge smile on his face.  
  
Harry heard Fang barking inside before Hagrid answered the door. As he opened his door, Fang stuck his huge head in the opening and licked Harry's hand. The sixteen year old laughed and petted the dog's head with his free hand.  
  
"Harry! Good to see you! Come in!" Harry entered the hut, and smiled. This was almost as good as being at the Burrow. "What brings you here today?"  
  
"I had some free time and thought I'd come see you. I'm sorry it's been so long."  
  
"Nonsense," Hagrid replied, "I know them professors have you sixth years working hard. I also know that you have an extra tough project this year."  
  
"You've heard about the Defense Against the dark Arts project then?" Hagrid nodded. "And do you also know who I've been teamed up with?"  
  
Hagrid nodded again, a bit stiffly. "Draco Malfoy."  
  
"You have heard."  
  
"Yes, but I have it on good authority that you two are doing well. Or at least you're not killing each other yet. I think that qualifies as a good job, don't you?"  
  
Harry laughed. "You may have a point there."  
  
The two friends visited for a long while, then Hagrid offered to cook lunch. Harry pointed at his sack. "I raided the kitchens and brought lunch for us, so you didn't have to cook for me. It's nice out, you want to eat outside?  
  
"Good idea." Hagrid grabbed a blanket, Harry the sack full of food, and they moved outdoors with Fang, who was so excited to be going outside that he started whimpering like a puppy. He ran around the hut a few times, then plopped down on to the blanket by Hagrid's plate to enjoy the sunshine.  
  
"So, Harry, what did you really come here to talk to me about?"  
  
Harry swallowed a bite of his sandwich and looked up at Hagrid. "I came to visit you."  
  
"Well, I know that's what you think, but there's something you're not telling me. What is it?"  
  
"I -" the sixteen year old sighed. "Hagrid, I just have a lot on my mind, and I feel like I can't talk to Ron or Hermione about some of these things."  
  
"Have you had a falling out with them?" Hagrid looked concerned.  
  
'No, no, nothing like that, just. I dunno, it's all so complicated."  
  
"Well, I can't help if I don't know what's going on. But you know, you can talk to Ron and Hermione about anything."  
  
"I don't know, Hagrid. I think there are a few things that I need an adult's opinion on. Ron and Hermione just wouldn't understand right now." He took a deep breath. "Do you think you could forgive your enemy of things that he did to you?"  
  
"Well, I don't know, Harry, I've never thought about it. Is this about Vol- er, him?"  
  
Harry shook his head. "No, I could never forgive him for what he's done to me. I mean on a smaller scale."  
  
Hagrid sighed. "Malfoy then?"  
  
Harry nodded and continued. "I've gotten to know him a bit because of this project, and he doesn't seem like the same person who left Hogwart's in June. Even when I've seen him with other people around the castle, he isn't as cocky as he used to be, and he isn't trying to cause trouble anymore." He looked at his sandwich. "The other night when we were working on the project, he said he was sorry that mum and dad were dead, and that I had to live with the Dursley's."  
  
"He did, did he?"  
  
"Yeah. I'm just finding it hard to hate him. Maybe that's a good thing. Hating someone isn't a good feeling, but it's satisfying, if there's a reason. There just doesn't seem to be much of a reason anymore."  
  
"You remember what he's done to you and your friends?"  
  
"Yes. Ron asked me the same thing, and I answered the same way. I remember. But if he's said he's sorry about mum and dad, maybe he's starting to feel bad about the things he's done too."  
  
"Harry, do you think you can forgive him?"  
  
Harry thought about this for a minute, then shrugged. "I don't know if I want to forgive him, Hagrid. Draco Malfoy has hurt a lot of people. He's called Hermione a filthy mudblood, he's made fun of the whole Weasley family, he took Umbridge's side last year against the DA - I really don't want to forgive him, but I'm finding it more and more difficult to hold a grudge against him when I see him acting and thinking differently than last year."  
  
Hagrid looked very serious. "Do you think that maybe he's trying to get on your good side so he can get information from you and give it to his father."  
  
"I've thought of that, and I just don't know what the answer is." He took a swig of his pumpkin juice.  
  
They sat in silence for a long time, each thinking about what the other had said and eating their lunches. Harry was staring off at the lake when Hagrid spoke again, breaking in to the young man's thoughts.  
  
"What else is on yer mind, Harry?"  
  
'Do I tell him? Do I stay quiet? He's your friend, Harry, you can trust him with this. What if he is ashamed of me after I tell him?' Harry sighed. "There is one other thing."  
  
The giant waited a moment for Harry to speak again. When he didn't, Hagrid put a large hand on the boy's slight shoulder. "Harry? Whatever it is, you can tell me. It'll be OK."  
  
Harry cleared his throat. "Well, you know that I liked Cho last year, and that things didn't work out very well. Anyway, erm, what I mean is. I think I know why we had so much trouble."  
  
"And?"  
  
"Well, this summer, I -" he took a deep breath and plunged ahead, without space between words. "IdecidedthatI'mgay." Harry looked away quickly, afraid to see the look on his friend's face.  
  
Hagrid looked confused. "You just decided that this summer?"  
  
"Well, not really decided in the sense that I decided I wanted to be. More like decided not to avoid it any more. I've liked boys more than girls for a long time, and I guess that my problems with Cho were because she wasn't a guy."  
  
Hagrid clapped him on the back gently, the weight knocking Harry forward slightly. "If that's what you want, then I've got no problem with it. I just don't want to see you get hurt."  
  
Harry looked at the giant for a long minute. "That's all?"  
  
"Well, you don't want me to be upset with ya, do ya? Because I'm not. I'm not ashamed of ya neither, Harry."  
  
Harry stood and hugged Hagrid hard around the neck. "Thank you, Hagrid."  
  
***  
  
The week had passed uneventfully for Harry, Ron and Hermione. Harry and Ron were behind on homework, as usual, and as usual, Hermione thought it her duty to remind them to not get behind.  
  
In Hermione fashion, as she and the two young men were making their way out of transfiguration on Thursday afternoon, she reminded them of all the studying they had to do that night. They were walking back to Gryffindor tower, since classes were over for the day.  
  
"Now listen, we have to start on the first part of our answers for the DADA project, since it's due Monday, and we have that essay due for Binns in History of Magic, and we need to practice our charms, and."  
  
Ron turned to her. "First, take a deep breath! Second, Harry and I have quidditch practice before dinner, so we can't get started on anything right away. We'll work on stuff after dinner."  
  
Hermione twisted her mouth in to a slight frown, but she knew better than to speak out against quidditch with these two.  
  
"I just don't want you two to get more behind than you already are," she said.  
  
"We know." Harry kissed her on the cheek. "We promise, after dinner, we are all yours." Hermione beamed. "But we have to get going if we don't want the captain to yell at us for being late."  
  
Ron, who had been made captain of the Gryffindor quidditch team upon Harry's suggestion to McGonagall, cocked his head in confusion and loked at his friend. "You think I'm going to yell at myself? I might yell at you for making me late, Harry, but not at me."  
  
They ran up to the boys dormitories to their room, and each changed in to their practice uniforms. They grabbed their brooms on the way out, and walked swiftly outside to the quidditch pitch.  
  
The weather had turned cooler as the end of September approached, and the afternoon had become cloudy after lunch. Now, storm clouds threatened to make this a quick practice, the sky becoming grayer with each passing minute.  
  
"So why did you tell her that we were all hers after dinner?"  
  
Harry laughed at the red head. "Well, we are behind, Ron, and we do need her help with some of this stuff."  
  
"Yeah, but I thought we were going to hang out in the common room and do nothing that consisted of being productive for a while."  
  
The brunette rolled his eyes. "We can do that after we get some of our work done. Honestly, Ron, just because you got Outstanding on most of your O.W.L.s doesn't mean you don't need to do the homework."  
  
Ron grinned. "Maybe you're right. I'll do it for those less fortunate who only managed excellents on everything but DADA, where said nameless person got top marks."  
  
The rest of the team was already gathered when they got to the center of the pitch. Ginny was talking excitedly and gesturing with her hands, something she rarely did. They caught the rest of her ranting when they joined the circle.  
  
".and I told them that we had already booked the field for practice! I had to pull my wand out and threaten that big one over there with an anti- flying charm before they got the hint. Snape knew that we had the pitch booked for today!" She huffed a little, then shook her head, her ponytail flying. "So we have the field, but not for as long." Ginny, who had been kept on the team as a beater (to replace one of the Weasley twins who were out of school), looked at Harry and Ron. "Goyle tried to tell me that they had booked the pitch for practice before us, but I'm the one who scheduled it with Madame Hooch last week, so I know better."  
  
"So why are the gits sitting in the stands?" Ron nodded towards the Slytherin team.  
  
"Well, you won't believe this, but when I started getting really mad, Malfoy stepped up and said that we could split the field. We could practice for an hour, and then they could practice. And we get to watch each other."  
  
"So we still have to cut our practice short?" Ron huffed.  
  
"Yes, but you're missing the point. Draco Malfoy compromised with us. When has that ever happened?"  
  
Harry shook his head. "I guess we should be happy we get to practice at all. Course, if someone doesn't stop her ranting, we'll waste our time and not get any practice in." Harry smiled at the youngest Weasley, laughter glinting in his green eyes. "Maybe we should get started, since we're wasting the time we have?"  
  
Ron nodded. "Harry's right. Let's go."  
  
Practice was uneventful, as they had been practicing for almost four weeks and had worked a lot of the kinks out. What Harry was really happy to see was that Ron has lost most of his nervousness when it came to playing in front of people. He may not be the best player, but he was a brilliant strategist, and that's why Harry had suggested his best friend a team captain. It had helped that Gryffindor had won the House cup last year, and they had practiced a lot this summer. Fred and George had even played with them some to help out, going so far as to play pranks to throw Ron off, but the more they worked, the better Ron got as a keeper. So playing in front of the Slytherin team was easier for him, and he made very few mistakes.  
  
At the end of their hour, Ron signaled for them to circle around her on their brooms, and he gave them the closing pep talk.  
  
"OK, we 're done for the day. Anyone who wants to sit and watch them practice can do so, I'll be staying to watch myself. Our first game is in two weeks, and I want to practice as much as possible, and that might mean a few morning practices on the weekends," Ginny, not the morning person, groaned, "And yes, I know there's a Hogsmead weekend coming up, but I want us to beat Ravenclaw early! So there will be a few morning practices. Alright, that's is. Let's clear the pitch for them."  
  
They flew as a team over to the stands opposite the Slytherin team, who stood as a group, mounted their brooms, and began practicing. Just as they got in the air, the first drops of rain hit Harry's glasses, and the tops of everyone's heads. Ron turned to Harry, grinning. "At least they have to practice in the rain! This is perfect."  
  
"Yeah, but I don't want to sit here and get wet!" Ginny said over the wind. She slid her wand in an arc thought the air over the team. "Umbrellus!" Immediately the raindrops, which were falling quickly, were deflected.  
  
"Wow!" Ron whistled. "How long have you been waiting to do that?" he asked.  
  
Ginny clapped with delight. "All summer. Hermione came up with it because she thought something like this might come along eventually, and we practiced every time it rained. It works just like a Muggle umbrella."  
  
As the Slytherin team practiced, most of the Gryffindor team members started analyzing their moves. Ron and Harry had fallen in to a conversation about the other team's keeper, Harry pointing out the ways he blocked the rings. Much to Ron's dismay, Malfoy flew by, blocking his view. He yelled at him as Malfoy hovered in his line of sight.  
  
"Get out of the way dammit! I can't see!"  
  
The blonde Slytherin couldn't hear him over the wind, but Ron felt immensely better for having cussed at him.  
  
"You know, Ron, I do have to watch him since he's their Seeker."  
  
Ron shook his head. "No you don't. You're a million times better than he is, you couldn't learn anything from him."  
  
"You can always learn something from the other team, no matter who it is."  
  
Ron laughed at Harry's sage advice. "We are still talking about quidditch, right mate?"  
  
"Yeah, but it's wise advice for any situation, isn't it?" Harry grinned.  
  
"Says you." Ron stood. "I give up. We may not begetting wet, but it's still cold. You coming? I'm sure Hermione would love to see us back from practice early. She'll do anything to get us started on our homework." He pouted, and Harry laughed at him. "I was really looking forward to an evening of loafing about."  
  
Harry clapped him on the back and they mounted to their brooms to get back to the castle more quickly. "Maybe if you are really nice to her, she'll let us slack off sooner."  
  
"You mean if I snog with her for a while."  
  
"Whatever works, Ron, whatever works." 


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter 3  
  
October came bright and clear to the castle, and with it, the beginning of the Quidditch season at Hogwarts.  
  
The Saturday of Gryffindor's first game was a beautiful one, blue sky and no clouds to speak of. Harry woke up early, excited at the prospect of playing in his first real quidditch match since SHE banned him for life. He scowled a bit at the thought of that toad, Umbridge, then shook his head. He was NOT going to think of her today and let it ruin his first game of the season.  
  
He slid out of bed and threw on some clothes, tried to brush his hair down (with no luck, as usual), and hurried down to the Great Hall for breakfast.  
  
Hermione was up already and he joined her at the Gryffindor table. Not many people were at breakfast yet, so they got to have a nice quiet conversation, something they hadn't done for a while.  
  
Midway through their meal, Hermione looked up. "Where's Ron?"  
  
Harry laughed. "You're not just now noticing he's not here?"  
  
"No, of course not. I'm just surprised he didn't join you."  
  
"As far as I know, he's still asleep. I was too excited to sleep."  
  
She smiled. "That's right, it's your first game in almost a year. I bet you're more than excited."  
  
"Yeah. I'm having a hard time sitting down. I just want to change in to my uniform and play already."  
  
"Well, not much longer." She looked up. "Oh, there he is right now."  
  
Harry looked the same direction as Hermione, to see Ron strolling towards them, yawning and rubbing his eyes. He sat down by Hermione and planted a kiss on her cheek, and she giggled.  
  
"Morning, mates." He yawned again. "Did I miss much?"  
  
"Nah, just me telling Hermione how hot I think you are with bed head." Harry grinned.  
  
"Yeah, well, you're just jealous that your hair doesn't stick straight up in the morning like mine," Ron retorted, pointing at Harry's famous unruly locks. He stole a piece of ham from Hermione's plate, and she slapped his hand away.  
  
"Get your own breakfast, Ron Weasley!"  
  
"Snark, snark, Hermione. You just need to get shagged," he said in a completely neutral tone, and Hermione blushed furiously. Harry laughed hard at this exchange.  
  
They sat patiently as Ron finished off two plates of food, then the three of them stood to leave. As they stood, the Slytherins stood at the same time, and in one great voice started singing the new verse to "Weasley is Our King.":  
  
"Weasley is our King! Weasley is our King!  
A red head stupid git, it's true.  
He'll always lose the game for you.  
He stinks at Quidditch, that's why we sing,  
Weasley is our King!"  
  
Harry noticed two things at the end of the Slytherin chorus - one, Ron wasn't in the least upset at their taunting, and two. Draco Malfoy was not standing with his housemates. Instead, he was sitting a few feet away from them all, glaring at each one, though none of them noticed.  
  
Then Harry discovered the reason that Ron wasn't upset. All at once, every student at the Gryffindor table got up, followed by those at the Ravenclaw and Hufflepuff tables. There was complete silence in the room, and Harry could see that each Slytherin had narrowed his or her eyes, anticipating what was coming next. Right on cue, Neville stood on a chair and raised his hands to direct them, and as one voice, the other three quarters of the school sang their response:  
  
"Weasley is our King! Weasley is our King! The Slytherins are all ugly shits But Weasley plays a brilliant bit. He's the best damned Keeper we've ever seen. Weasley is our King!"  
  
On the last line, all the voices crescendoed until the sound echoed off the walls. Ron turned to Neville, and they bowed to each other, then he turned and bowed first to his own housemates, then to Ravenclaw and Hufflepuff. Finally, he turned to the group of surprised Slytherins, bowed, and gave them all the finger.  
  
Harry and Hermione had been laughing up to this point, but as soon as Harry saw Ron's middle finger fly up in an endearing salute, he was on the floor, doubled up and tears streaming down his face. His sides hurt, and he couldn't breath, and he was still laughing, 'and this is worth it,' he thought, 'to see THAT look on the face of every Slytherin in the room.'  
  
Ron was quite composed as all the Slytherins left, and the crowd dispersed. He turned to Neville once again. "Neville, that was excellent. My congratulations. You may go down in history for that."  
  
Neville smiled. "Hey, I had to live up to my Gryffindor roots sometime." He got off the chair and looked at Harry panting on the floor. "Is he going to be OK?" he asked Hermione.  
  
She was still breathless from laughter herself, but managed to get out, "He'll be fine." Neville shrugged, waved good bye to the threesome and walked away.  
  
Ron offered his hand to Harry. "You need to get up now, people are starting to stare, and not in a good way."  
  
Harry removed his glasses and wiped his eyes. "That was quite possibly the best thing I've ever seen." He turned to watch the last of the Slytherins leave the Great Hall, and saw, to his amazement, that Draco was still sitting calmly at the table, a slight smile on his fair face. At the same moment that Harry looked at him, Draco looked at Harry, nodded, and rose to leave the room.  
  
***  
  
Draco had to leave the hall before anyone saw him lose whatever composure he had left. He walked calmly out of the Great Hall, turned the corner to go towards the main entrance, and seeing that he was alone in the hallway, laughed like he had never laughed before.  
  
He had helped make up that song last year, and he was proud, but never as proud as he was seeing his own song being used against his house. He knew that how he felt would be seen as no less than treason, however melodramatic that might be, but he kept picturing Neville standing up on the chair and directing the rest of the school in their version.  
  
This brought a new wave of laughter, and he doubled over. 'What is wrong with me? I should be angry, not entertained! What is WRONG with me?!' But he kept laughing.  
  
***  
  
Harry soared over the heads of all the other players, keeping an eye out for the snitch. The score was sixty to thirty in favor of Ravenclaw, which was fine. Harry smiled, remembering what Ron had told him before the game:  
  
"Now listen Harry, I want us to win early, but I also want to be able to play some sort of game. Do us a favor and don't catch the snitch in the first five minutes, alright, mate?"  
  
Harry smiled. "You want me to just sit in the crowd and watch until we're down by a hundred points, then join the game?"  
  
Ron gave him the one finger salute and rolled his eyes, while Harry just laughed.  
  
So now, here he was, warm October sunlight on his face and a cool breeze against his back. He couldn't have picked better playing conditions.  
  
The game had been going on for about half an hour when Harry saw the snitch, sailing lazily behind the back of one of the Ravenclaw beaters. Cho hadn't seen it yet, so Harry flew casually over to it, when it suddenly gave a lurch and spun out of his grasp. Cho saw him reach for it, and she started to chase the golden ball.  
  
The race for the snitch was on. He and Cho were flying right beside each other, not paying attention to the other, and Harry could hear the faint chorus of "Go Go Gryffindor" coming from the stands behind him. The snitch broke a hard right, flying past Cho and heading towards the grass, and Harry raised up, looped over Cho so he was upside down, and headed straight for the grass in pursuit of the snitch. It floated in mid air just long enough for Harry to reach out and grab it, then climb a few feet with his hand raised.  
  
Madame Hooch blew her whistle. "Harry Potter has the Snitch. Gryffindor wins!"  
  
A loud cry went up in the stands where Harry's housemates sat, and his team members flew in circles around him, then Ron led them in a victory lap around the pitch. Harry couldn't help but smile. This was a great day.  
  
***  
  
Hermione ran up to Harry and Ron as soon as they landed, and she kissed her boyfriend on the lips roughly, then kissed Harry's cheek.  
  
"Excellent game, both of you. Though, Harry, you could have waited a bit longer to catch the snitch, the game was just getting good!"  
  
Harry took the comment in the spirit it was meant and laughed. "I'll try to remember that next time."  
  
A few of their housemates joined them, and they talked for a while. Harry had started a conversation with one of the seventh years while Ron and Hermione were laughing at a joke that Ginny was telling Neville. Out of the corner of his eye, Harry could see Malfoy walking towards him, but he ignored the blonde and concentrated on his conversation. As Draco got closer, Harry noted that he wore his hair loose today, and it fell in one length to his jawline, waving slightly in the breeze. He looked away quickly. 'It wouldn't do to get caught looking at Draco -MALFOY, HARRY, MALFOY! - like that.'  
  
Draco bumped into Harry and sneered, but Harry felt the blonde stick a small piece of paper in his hand. He sneered back at his DADA partner, and stuck the paper inside his robes.  
  
***  
  
Harry had beat Ron back to their dorm room, and was changing clothes as he thought of the paper Draco had passed him. It had just two words on it:  
  
Good Game  
  
Harry stared at the note, dumbfounded; he could only shake his head. But he didn't throw the note away. He hid it in his sock drawer.  
  
***  
  
It had started out as typical day at Hogwarts: breakfast, potions, transfiguration, lunch, divination, history of magic, then double charms. Nothing exciting was supposed to happen.  
  
Harry and Ron left Hermione in the charms classroom to talk to Professor Flitwick for a few minutes. They were making their way up to Gryffindor tower, laughing at a joke that Seamus had told them earlier.  
  
"Harry, Ron, wait up!"  
  
They turned around to watch Neville racing to catch up with them. When he joined them, he was slightly out of breath.  
  
Ron laughed. "You Ok, Neville?"  
  
Neville nodded. "Yeah, fine. Just trying to catch up."  
  
The three boys chatted noisily, turning the corner that led back towards the tower. Just as they turned, Harry ran smack into Luna Lovegood, who was staring dreamily at the wall. Luna fell backwards, as did Harry, with a thump and an "oof."  
  
"Oh hi, Harry. Good to see you." She sat crosslegged on the floor, staring up at him with her blue eyes.  
  
Harry stood up and dusted his robe off. "Hi, Luna, good to see you too." He held out a hand to her, and she took it, standing up beside him. "Uh, what were you looking at?"  
  
"Oh, just the wall." Ron and Neville looked at each other and rolled their eyes in unison. "There was a good article in the Quibbler last month about the pictures you could see in the walls of old castles. Fascinating."  
  
"Uh, yeah. Well, we need to get going now. See you later."  
  
"Sure. Bye, Ron. Bye, Neville." She waved to them, turning back to the wall.  
  
Neville raised an eyebrow. "She's as weird as Ginny said she was. Nice, but really odd. I wonder what kind of pictures she was looking for?"  
  
"You never know with -" Ron started to say, but his sentence was broken by a shout. All three boys turned to see Luna surrounded by four Slytherin boys, one of which was holding Luna's wand. This hallway wasn't that busy, and so the students that were there stopped and stared or tried to get out as quickly as possible.  
  
"Those dirty bastards!" Ron cried.  
  
Harry and Ron had moved forward a few paces to take care of the situation when he saw his thin blonde nemesis come around the other corner, talking to a housemate.  
  
As soon as Draco saw what was going on, he drew his wand and aimed for the biggest of his housemates, the one that had Luna's wand.  
  
"Give her back her wand, Zachary."  
  
Zachary sneered at Draco, looking him up and down. While Draco had clearly grown over the past few months, the bigger boy had a good five inches on him and several more pounds.  
  
"And if I don't?"  
  
The other Slytherin boys looked back and forth between Draco and Zachary, sizing each up. Zachary was big and mean, but Draco was all that and smart. Still, they stood with Zachary who was staring menacingly at the blonde sixth year. Draco stayed silent, waiting and watching, his face calm.  
  
"What's wrong, Malfoy, no witty comeback? No actual threat? Or were you just planning on running to Snape with your tail between your legs?"  
  
Draco struck as Zachary raised Luna's own wand against her. "Stupefy!"  
  
Zachary dropped the wand, stunned. The other three boys, understanding that Draco was not threatening but promising, backed away slowly, then turned around and walked away without a glance back at Zachary, Draco, or Luna.  
  
Draco picked up Luna's wand and handed it to her.  
  
She reached out for it, tentatively. "Thank you, Malfoy."  
  
He nodded, then turned to Zachary. "Ennervate." When Zachary was fully aware, he spoke again. "Yes, I am telling the Headmaster about this. I expect better of you."  
  
Zachary turned red. "What's wrong with you this year, Malfoy? Last year, you were everything a Slytherin is supposed to be, and this year you attack your own housemates when we want to have a little fun!"  
  
Draco narrowed his eyes at the older boy and spoke in softly controlled words, so that Harry, Ron, and Neville could barely hear him. "Being a Slytherin means one is cunning and shrewd. It doesn't mean one is necessarily evil. Somewhere along the way, many of us forgot that being a Slytherin means we have honor. I don't intend to forget that any longer." With that, he turned on his heel and walked away.  
  
Ron stared at Draco as he walked away, the three of them unnoticed by their enemy. He turned to Harry, gaping at him, his eyes wide with shock.  
  
Neville was the first to speak. "I don't even know where to begin. It's wrong on so many levels."  
  
"Did we really just see Draco turn on his own housemates to protect Luna Lovegood?" Ron asked.  
  
Harry nodded. "I'm telling you guys, he changed this summer. I don't know what to make of it yet, but I don't think it's an act. I think he really changed."  
  
***  
  
Harry and Ron waited until after dinner to tell Hermione about Draco, and they told her quickly (and still wide-eyed) what had happened. She was as shocked as they were.  
  
"That's so unlike him. I - I just can't believe it!"  
  
"Hermione, I know, I wouldn't believe it either if I didn't see it with my own eyes, but he has to have changed a little to do that! He even said something about Slytherins having honor."  
  
Harry couldn't believe his ears. Ron saying that Malfoy had changed?  
  
Maybe Draco was right - people could change.  
  
***  
  
Monday was Care of Magical Creatures first thing in the morning, and he hadn't stopped thinking of the incident between Luna, the Slytherins, and Draco since it happened Thursday afternoon. He couldn't make out what was going on with Malfoy, and as he was already confused about the other young man, this didn't help.  
  
Harry was used to things being black and white. There is good in the world, there is bad, and rarely do bad things or people become good. He liked his black and white world, but he seemed to have left that behind at Grimmauld Place when they came back to Hogwarts.  
  
Somehow he had managed to not see the blonde the past weekend, even at meal times, which was fine, because for Harry, Draco Malfoy had begun to become a shade of grey that turned his understanding of good and evil all around. And suddenly, that shade of grey was standing right in front of him.  
  
"Potter! Wake up, you loser." Draco was waving a hand in front of Harry's face, his right eyebrow arched as he watched Harry for signs of recognition.  
  
Harry shook his head. "What do you want, Malfoy?" He tried to make is voice sound rough.  
  
Ron and Hermione just stared at the blonde, and Harry watched them out of the corner of his eye. He could tell that the two of them were just as confused as he was about the incident in the hallway. Ron didn't even have a dirty look on his face.  
  
"We need to work on the next part of the project," Draco said.  
  
"Yeah, I know. I have Quidditch practice tonight and Wednesday night though. How about you?"  
  
"Tomorrow and Thursday. But I can meet after practice on any of those nights."  
  
Harry thought for a moment. He was meeting with Dumbledore that night for Occlumency lessons, and on Thursday night as well. "What about Wednesday? That will give me enough time to get something put together."  
  
"Fine. I'll see you then." Draco turned and walked over so he was standing near Crabbe and Goyle, but not right by them. The threesome watched as he stood alone, not talking or joking with anyone. Harry elbowed Ron lightly, and Ron shrugged. He didn't know what to make of that either.  
  
Hagrid appeared in front of the group of sixth years. "All ri', settle down, settle down. Now, I know we've worked on this before, but we're gonna try somethin' again. Follow me."  
  
He led the students behind the house, where ten large hippogriffs were penned in behind his fence.  
  
Pansy Parkinson shrieked, "You can't make us work with those beasts again! One of them almost killed Draco! I'm going to Professor Snape with this." She turned right then to head back to the castle, but she was caught by the elbow by Hagrid.  
  
"Professor Snape knows about this project. Now if you don't want to participate here, then you can serve detention. Yer choice," the giant said casually. Pansy's eyes narrowed, but she stayed.  
  
"Now then," Hagrid said. "Three years ago, yer only job was to get comfortable with these. This year, you'll be takin' care of 'em. We'll be studying them for six weeks, and it will be yer jobs to feed 'em every morning and night and make sure they get plenty of exercise. You'll be working in pairs, and just so this is easy fer ya, you'll be working in the same pairs that ya already have for yer Defense Against the Dark Arts project."  
  
"What?!" Hermione let out a muffled shout, covering her mouth as soon as the sound left her mouth.  
  
Harry just sighed. Great, more time with Malfoy. What more could a person ask for?  
  
"That's right, Hermione, it will help with both of these classes, and Professor Dumbledore thought it was a good idea. At the end of class today, I'll give you yer schedules for yer days to take care of 'em. Since we only have ten, we'll be rotatin' a bit." Harry heard Seamus muttering something in Gaelic behind him, something he could only imagine would be unrepeatable in English. "Before we get to that, we need to get familiar with the hippogriffs again. Who remembers how to greet a hippogriff?"  
  
Hermione, of course, raised her hand, and Hagrid smiled. "Hermione?"  
  
"You stand in front of them, and bow at the waist, slowly. Then you wait for the hippogriff to bow to you. If it does, then you are OK to pet it."  
  
"Very good. Ten points for Gryffindor."  
  
Behind him, Harry heard Pansy muter in a sarcastic voice, "Very good. Ten points for Gryffindor. Blech." He watched as Ron turned his head to stare at Pansy with his eyes narrowed. When he was sure that the Slytherin girl had gotten the point, the red head turned around and waited for the next part of the lesson.  
  
"Alrigh', I want all of ya to take a turn greeting one o' the hippogriffs. Who would like to go first to demonstrate?"  
  
All the students hesitated, except for Ron, Harry, and Hermione, who were so used to greeting Buckbeak every morning of the summer holiday that it was second nature. They started to walk forward when they heard a voice at the front.  
  
"I'll try, Professor Hagrid."  
  
The three friends looked at each other, wide eyed with surprise. At the front of the crowd of students stood Draco Malfoy, offering to go first to greet one of the beasts that tried to hurt him when he was thirteen. Every eye was on the fair headed young man, and Draco himself wore a carefully neutral expression.  
  
"Well, I can't wait to see another hippogriff try to eat him," Ron whispered, with a hint of happiness in his voice.  
  
Hagrid wore a sceptical expression. Harry wasn't sure if it was because Dra - MALFOY DAMMIT! - had called Hagrid 'professor' or had volunteered to go first. "Are ya sure 'bout that?" Hagrid asked him.  
  
Draco nodded, and Hagrid led him into the pen to a rather large and, Harry thought, mean looking beast. He saw Malfoy take a deep breath, and step up to the hippogriff carefully.  
  
Having helped take care of Buckbeak for three years had taught Harry something very important about hippogriffs. As a breed of magical creatures, they weren't very trusting of humans, and if you had even a trace of deceit on you, they knew it. They might still bow to you, but that would be the extent of it. That was why Buckbeak had attacked Malfoy three years ago, because even though he might have followed the right steps to greet the creature, he was a deceitful boy then and Buckbeak knew he couldn't be trusted.  
  
So this would be the test for Malfoy. Would the hippogriff in front of him react the same way Buckbeak had three years ago?  
  
Malfoy bowed slowly and carefully to the creature facing him, and stayed there for a minute before coming back up to glance briefly at the hippogriff before looking down. Ten seconds hadn't passed before the hippogriff bent at the knees, bowing to the Slytherin.  
  
Hermione gasped, and Ron coughed. They must have been thinking the same thing that Harry had just a minute ago. But the real shock came when Malfoy reached over to stroke the beast's feathered head. The hippogriff bowed its head to Malfoy, closing its eyes and allowing the young man to stroke the top of its head. Then the creature stepped closer to the Slytherin, almost nestling its big head into the palm of Draco Malfoy's hand.  
  
Harry looked around and watched the faces that wore amazed expressions as the students murmured to themselves about what was happening in front of them. Hagrid was speechless, and he wore something between a smile and a worried expression in his face. But no one looked as surprised as Malfoy did at that moment. He clearly expected to be attacked again. He continued to pat the hippogryff in slow strokes over the top and sides of his face, and after a few minutes stroked the top of its beak.  
  
"Alrigh', I want the rest of ya ta take a turn, so get in there and greet them." Harry, Ron and Hermione led a group in to the pen, and when six other people had picked a hippogriff to greet, the rest of the students stayed behind and waited their turns.  
  
Harry, Ron and Hermione's hippogriffs bowed and let them each pet them immediately, unsurprisingly. Harry petted his, watching Malfoy, who was still with his beast.  
  
It was almost imperceptible, but Draco Malfoy wore a small smile that reached to his grey eyes. Harry smiled himself, and turned back to his hippogriff.  
  
***  
  
Harry stopped at the entrance to Professor Dumbledore's office, a big grin on his face. "Canary Cream." He laughed, and the door opened, revealing the familiar spiral staircase that led to the Headmaster's office.  
  
As he walked up the staircase, he remembered when Albus Dumbledore had told him the password. Harry doubled over in laughter as the tall, aging wizard had told him of the day that he went into Weasley's Wizarding Wheezes and the twins gave him a complementary canary cream. The twins thought that their former Professor would wait until he got back to Hogwarts to try the magical candy, but instead he'd eaten it right there, and with a loud popping, had turned into a canary. When he'd turned back in to Albus Dumbledore five minutes later, the twins were still laughing, but were blushing apologetically as well.  
  
"Professor, we're very sorry, we thought you'd wait."  
  
Dumbledore held up his hand to stop Fred's apology. "Nonsense, gentlemen, that was an amazing experience. I'd like to buy five of them for later use."  
  
And so Harry had the new password, and had also watched Dumbledore eat a canary cream at the first lesson, and that had lifted Harry's spirits about resuming occlumency.  
  
When he reached the headmaster's quarters, Dumbledore was waiting for him.  
  
"Good evening, Harry."  
  
"Good evening, Professor." Harry sat down, trying to make himself comfortable. Despite the laughter that was just now dying, he had a niggling thought at the back of his mind that he was trying not to concentrate on.  
  
"Harry, what is it? You're distracted."  
  
"What? Oh, I'm sorry, it's nothing."  
  
Dumbledore looked evenly at Harry. "You know that these lessons don't go well when your mind is occupied with other things. Why don't we talk about what's bothering you, then we'll start our lesson."  
  
Harry sighed and shut his eyes, trying to compose his thoughts. When he opened them again, Dumbledore was looking at him patiently.  
  
"Professor, do you think that people can change? I mean really change?"  
  
Dumbledore thought about it for a minute. "Yes, Harry, I really do think people can change."  
  
Harry thought about this for a moment. "Why?"  
  
"I have to believe that people can change. Otherwise, what hope do we have? You know what a difficult world this is to live in, and you've seen things that people four times your age wouldn't believe. But I have to believe that despite that evil, people can change. People HAVE changed, Harry."  
  
"Even Voldemort?"  
  
The older man sighed. "I think he could change, if he wanted to. But, Harry, what Voldemort craves is power, and he'll have that power by any means necessary. He doesn't want to change.but yes, I still think it's possible, even for him." He paused, looking at Harry briefly. "But who is this really about?"  
  
Harry looked at his hands. "Draco Malfoy."  
  
"Ah." Dumbledore nodded. "I wondered when I'd be speaking to you about him."  
  
Harry looked up into the elder wizard's blue eyes. "What?"  
  
"He is the symbol for what you stand against, but without his father's influence over him, I myself have observed Draco changing. You have been working with him on one project, and you will begin working with him on another project very soon. It was only a matter of time before you changed your mind about him."  
  
"But, Professor," Harry started, "that's just it. I don't WANT to change my mind about him. He and I have been enemies for five years. He's done nothing but cause me and my two best friends grief. Because of him I've been banned from Quidditch, lost points for my house, messed up at potions, and that's just the beginning!"  
  
"Then why are you asking the question?"  
  
Harry sighed and slumped in his chair. "Even though I don't want to change my mind about him, I've been working with him, and he's done some things this year that make me see he has changed. I can't deny it," he lowered his voice to almost a whisper, "but I don't like it."  
  
"So what do you want to do, Harry?"  
  
"Professor, do you really think he's changed?"  
  
Dumbledore nodded. "Yes, Harry, I do. He's changed, and it has cost him more than you'll understand."  
  
"Can you trust him?"  
  
Dumbledore looked at the floor, thinking. Harry had almost given up on getting an answer to his question when the elder wizard looked back up. "I don't know that I can answer that right now, Harry. I feel that given time, I could trust him more. But he is still young, and he is still the product of his upbringing. The more important question is this: Can YOU trust him?"  
  
Harry shrugged. "I don't know. I don't want to have to trust him, but I can see that I may not have a choice in the near future. He's not really my friend, but I don't think he's really my enemy any more." He took off his glasses and rubbed his eyes. "I don't know what to believe about Draco right now." 


End file.
